Metroplus meets five city folks who drift off their daily routine to passionately pursue some form of art. They believe their art is not just an expression of themselves but also a source of inspiration for others.
Suman Goyal,
Mural artist
Homemaker Suman Goyal doesn’t watch TV serials. She only surfs the net for DIY videos on art and craft. Watching on YouTube, she has learnt embroidery, knitting, ari and zardozi, bead and chamki work. But her latest passion is mural art, she says. “After attending a few workshops by muralist Bharat Rawal, I made a dozen murals at home. Few I distributed among friends, the rest got sold,” says Suman, who also makes small toys from corn flour. She kneads corn flour and uses it like clay to make little toys such as teddy bears, puppies and kitten. Once the flour gets a shape, it is heated and once it becomes hard, it is coloured with acrylic paint. Suman’s love for art started as a child when she used to make toys with sand and wood. Now, she makes murals of wood, Sephorix and clay. “Sometimes, I experiment by using glass paint on murals or by sticking cardboard and saw dust to get various textures,” says Suman who is equally adept in art-from-waste. She has made figurines of Gods and Goddesses and puja thalis from discarded plastic items. “Doing art gives me mental relaxation and self-confidence,” she says, “and it makes me realise that I am not just a home-maker but can also augment my family’s income in whatever little way.”
Nazima,
Mehndi artist
When Nazima came to Madurai as a new bride, she was surprised to find that the city women had very little idea about Mehndi. Back in Surat, it was part of her daily life. “As a Gujarati, I always wanted to do something different. “I learnt the art of putting Mehndi patterns from my granny who used to draw it for us on every occasion,” says Nazima, who has successfully turned her creative talent into a career now. There is no wedding of the rich and the elite in the city to which Nazima does not get invited. Her calendar is packed with appointments particularly during the shaadi season. During her free time, she teaches mehndi to underprivileged girls. “I take them along for the big weddings so that they can also earn something.” Nazima follows a strict “no to chemicals in mehndi’ policy. She buys powdered mehndi leaves from Bombay and Gujarat, to which she adds tea decoction, eucalyptus oil and lemon juice to make the paste and puts them into cones. “It’s a creative let out for me. It gives me immense pleasure to see happy brides with mehndi on their palms done by me.” Nazima charges between Rs.2,000 to Rs.6,000 for a full heavy bridal mehndi package.
Prasanna,
Beautician
Prasanna is primarily a home-maker but runs a beauty parlour to support her husband. Eight years back, she joined a beautician course in Chennai and after returning to Madurai became a sought after nail artist. On weekends, college girls and young moms hit her parlour to get their nails painted in vibrant patterns. “When I first started nail-art many were reluctant. People thought it was gaudy and loud. But now, it has become a rage among young girls. Even kids get their nails painted with cartoon characters like Pokemon and Dora,” says Prasanna, who also keeps updating herself with knowledge on the latest designs and techniques in nail art. “Earlier, I used zero-size needles and toothpicks to draw designs. Nowadays, there are readymade stencils that can be stamped on the nail to get the design,” she says. Nail art is done on the base of nail polish with acrylic paint, upon which a layer of transparent paint is coated to seal the design. “The current trend is to paint just the big toe or the thumb. In the big towns, people even stick shiny stones, fake nails and rings. Here, the trend is yet to seep in,” says Prasanna, who charges Rs.100 or Rs.200 depending on the intricacy of the nail art.
G. Ramesh Kumar
Computer operator,
N.M.S.S.Vellaichamy Nadar College.
Give this computer operator few broken glass pieces and he will turn it into a beautiful artwork. For a person whose motto is to get something out of nothing, G.Ramesh Kumar, always keeps himself busy. “My diary of events is pictorial, a visual presentation of what I see and feel. I scribble whatever comes to my mind,” he says. Born to parents who are daily wagers, Ramesh never had any financial support. But his parents never objected to his love for art. He started working early to make a living and completed certificate courses in line drawing, water colours and oil painting. “The only satisfaction of attending these classes is that I learnt something new. But people value qualification more than talent,” he says. Ramesh also worked as an art teacher in school but resigned soon because he felt his labour and work was not duly respected in terms of his salary. “Art is very subjective and I can never compromise,” he says. From chalk piece to soap, anything and everything takes a beautiful form between his nimble fingers. “My canvas is wide and I communicate through art,” he says, “but appreciation is hard to come by.”
R. Siva
Tamil teacher,
Madura College Higher Secondary School
From a boy who could not even draw a straight line, R. Siva has come a long way as an artist displaying his paintings at several exhibitions across the country. Though he works as a Tamil language teacher in a school, he says, he became an artist “out of compulsion and not passion.” Belonging to a family of teachers, his father wanted him to become one but Siva flunked the higher secondary exam. His father then decided to make an art teacher out of his son and carefully planned his career.
“I had no role in it,” says Siva, as his father arranged an art teacher for him who came home not to teach art but to prepare him for the Government examinations to recruit art teachers!. Eventually he became one but the world of art truly beckoned him when he visited the gallery of popular painter M.G. Raffic Ahamed. “I was fascinated by the use of colours. It was a turning point in my life and I started taking my work seriously,” he says. His series of paintings titled Fish Tales that depict various elements of Madurai city and Goddess Meenakshi has caught the attention of art critics. “I spend a lot but expect only recognition of my art,” says Siva. “Taking free art classes for both young and old keeps my artistic spirit intact.”
